Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea

By Frank Delaney

Book Overview

"HEAVEN HELP THE SAILOR ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS."
-old folk prayer

In late December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly forty metric tons of cargo, the freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A few days into the voyage, she hit the eye of a ferocious storm. Force 12 winds tossed men about like playthings and turned drops of freezing Atlantic foam into icy missiles. When, in the space of twenty-eight hours, the ship was slammed by two rogue waves-solid walls of water more than sixty feet high-the impacts cracked the decks and hull almost down to the waterline, threw the vessel over on her side, and thrust all on board into terror.

Flying Enterprise's captain, Kurt Carlsen, a seaman of rare ability and valor, mustered all hands to patch the cracks and then try to right the ship. When these efforts came to naught, he helped transfer, across waves forty feet high, the passengers and the entire crew to lifeboats sent from nearby ships. Then, for reasons both professional and intensely personal, and to the amazement of the world, Carlsen defied all requests and entreaties to abandon ship. Instead, for the next two weeks, he fought to bring Flying Enterprise and her cargo to port. His heroic endeavor became the world's biggest news.

In a narrative as dramatic as the ocean's fury, acclaimed bestselling author Frank Delaney tells, for the first time, the full story of this unmatched bravery and endurance at sea. We meet the devoted family whose well-being and safety impelled Carlsen to stay with his ship. And we read of Flying Enterprise's buccaneering owner, the fearless and unorthodox Hans Isbrandtsen, who played a crucial role in Kurt Carlsen's fate.
Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection-and respect-for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the thirty-seven-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew. This is a gripping, absorbing narrative that highlights one man's outstanding fortitude and heroic sense of duty.

"One of the great sea stories of the twentieth century... a] surefire nautical crowd-pleaser."
--Booklist (starred review)

"Frank Delaney has written a completely absorbing, thrilling and inspirational account of a disaster at sea that occasioned heroism of the first order. In the hands of a gifted storyteller,
the 'simple courage' of the ship's captain and the young radio man who risked their lives to bring a mortally wounded ship to port reveals the essence and power of all true courage-
a stubborn devotion to the things we love."
-Senator John McCain

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812975952
• ISBN13: 9780812975956
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

excellent reading. The cruel sea.

As a sailor and someone who has great respect for the sea I have recommended this book to my Friends and also given away copies to family, whom I would like to read this book and get the experience though the book. The sea can be Cruel and wonderful at different times, I love the Ocean but at the same time Respect it for what it can do. The book leaves you wondering how things could have been done differently and perhaps there was other reasons for what took place, the book leaves you thinking, which is good, I can highly recommend this book. Hans Andersen.

Don't Read This Great Sea Story - LISTEN INSTEAD

I listened to the CD version of Simple Courage. Other reviewers have deducted marks for the book's length and author's personal narrative. None of that mars the audio version. LISTEN to the CD. It's been expertly abridged by Kristin Lesko into a tight, taut, compelling story. Frank Delaney is an absolutely OUTSTANDING reader/narrator (a long prior career at the BBC probably helped). I begrudged every moment it took to eject the finished CDs and spin up the new ones.

Uses historical documents and modern accounts to spice true adventure.

Frank Delaney's SIMPLE COURAGE: A TRUE STORY OF PERIL ON THE SEA tells of a 1951 ship laden with passengers and tons of cargo heading from Europe to America which faced huge waves which about destroyed her. Her captain fought to bring her cargo and passengers safely to port: his courageous story is told on audio for the first time, and uses historical documents and modern accounts to spice true adventure. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Captain Courageous

The world has not long remembered Captain Henrik Kurt Carlsen, but in 1952 he was deservedly one of the most famous men in the world, "The Man of the Year" according to Life magazine and plenty of other listmakers. Frank Delaney, an Irish writer, was nine years old at the time, and one of the connections he had with his difficult father while growing up in Ireland was sharing the world's fascination with Carlsen's peril at sea. Delaney remembers his father uncharacteristically summoning the family to the radio: "There is an incident happening at sea." An incident, indeed, and one that stuck with Delaney for years, finally flowering into the grand account _Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea_ (Random House). Delaney's personal interest in the story, as part of his own family's lore, is told in episodes through the book, illustrating how all the world over people were waiting to hear of the fate of Carlsen as he clung to his sinking vessel, so it helps us understand what a sensation the story was at the time. Delaney's book brings the sensation back for our own time. For the voyage of _Flying Enterprise_ at the end of 1951, she had picked up passengers and cargo in various European docks, and was headed to the United States. The master of the ship was Captain Carlsen, a 37-year-old Danish-born American who had two decades of seagoing experience, including 43 Atlantic crossings. He was an impeccable sailor and captain. He had no pretense; everyone who knew him said that he was exactly the sort of straight-arrow he seemed to be. The ship had the ill fortune to be hit not by one but two rogue waves, the first cracking the hull and the second giving it a sixty degree list which shifted the cargo so that she could not right herself. Eventually there were ships that came to the rescue, and although one passenger died in the transfer, all the rest of the crew and passengers jumped, often heroically, into the raging and frigid waters to be dragged to safety. Carlsen ordered everyone off, including those that volunteered to continue to try to save the ship, and then began a solitary stay on the vessel, attempting to find food or a dry place in which to wedge mattresses so he could catch some sleep. A seagoing hero in peril was a great story, and the press ran with it, ensuring that even Delaney's isolated family knew of "Stay-Put Carlsen" or "Captain Courageous." There were those who thought there must be some hidden motive to keep Carlsen aboard in such atrocious conditions, but the truth is, as the title of the book implies, simple: Carlsen knew his duty, he loved his ship, and until there was no hope, he was not leaving. This was the biggest one-man heroism story since Lindbergh. He was honored on his return to England, and when he got to New York, he was given a ticker tape parade. He refused to cash in on his fame; even while he was awaiting rescue, a beer tycoon had arranged for a packet to be dropped to him offering hi

Rare combo of action-packed and life-affirming

The Christian Science Monitor said something like - "Simple Courage made The Perfect Storm look like a paddle in a duck pond". No kidding. This is, perhaps, the most exciting non-fiction book I've ever read. What more can I say? It's exciting, exhilerating, ferocious, frightening, breathtaking -- and ultimately, heartwarming and life affirming. I've been sitting up tonight trying to think about whether I would have had the courage to stick to my guns and do everything in my power to bring a damaged ship to port in the worst storm in history, and here's what I think: it's more than bringing in a ship - the central theme here is whether a man will honor his promise and his word. Obviously Captain Carlsen does this, and along the way his example seems to inspire other people to behave with great courage. From his boss to his crew and passengers, to the captains and crews of the rescue ships and an incredible sailor who jumped from a tug to join him on board this `sinking ship' - there is so much courage jammed into these pages, you cannot help but ask yourself if you would be up for the task. In the end, we read that Carlsen's reason for staying on board is as much about love as duty - but it's very clear that simply doing what's right can actually be heroic. I can't type anymore - I actually have tears in my eyes.